20 miles to write home about

We completed the much-anticipated 20 mile run on Saturday morning! I am starting to feel a little sad that our training will now taper off until race day. Our highest mileage week of 40 miles is such a great accomplishment. And hey I don’t feel too bad, just a little tired all over!

Miles 1-6: We began with the running group outside the Running Fit store in Ann Arbor Michigan. At 6:45 it was still dark, a little drizzly, but a good temperature. The course was a 6 mile loop and runners could create their own amount of loops based on their training schedule. There weren’t a lot of other runners doing 20 miles since the Detroit Marathon schedule would put people a week behind us in the Toronto and Chicago schedule. By the end of the first loop Melissa and I were starting to doubt whether we wanted to continue on with this course. I almost hit the pavement close to mile 6 when I was running onto a sidewalk. It was a close call and left me a little shaky. The near fall, the sprinkle of rain, and the crappy course really had me doubting myself. That is where a great running buddy and sister comes into play! Thanks Mel 🙂

Miles 7-15: We decided to split from the group, and head out on our own course. Melissa lead us to a park nearby where we did 2.5 laps with water every lap and we took a gu at mile 10. This was a peaceful and calm spot and I really relaxed at this point of the run, and got my zen runner on! I saw the cutest mommy fitness group complete with jogging strollers…please ladies, can I be in your group in a few years? 😉

Miles 15-20: At this point we started to make our way back through town to Melissa’s house. We hit 2 more water stops, and then looped back to hit them again, plus one more gu around mile 15 or 16. We were both a little quiet and focused on finishing strong, which we did! Back at the house we had water and an M&M cookie plus a photo shoot.